Spring-beard knitting machine



Sept. 18, 1928. y

K. HOWIE SPRING BEARD KNITTING MACHINE 30e "Immun- (MINIMUM- Filed Jan.5l, 1927 Il. [l- 30'6 Inv/en'or.

If'i III Il 5 llllmllll lm Patented Sept. 18, 1928.

UNITED sfrii'rias'V PATENT OFFICE.

KENNETH HOWIE, OF NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WILDMAN MFG'.C0., 0F NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.y

SPRING-BEARD KNITTING MACHINE.

Application led January 31, 1927. Serial No. 164,844.

One object of my invention is to provide in'a spring-needle knittingmachine employing individual pressers, means controlled by a notchedpresser wheel and by adjust-able cani means whereby a variety of designsmay be formed in the fabric. Y

Another object of this invention is to provide means for making patternsin the leg of a seamless stocking knit upon a circular machine, such asthat known as the Pigeon, which employs spring beard needle, direct ted,and has a presser for each independentlyoperated needle. u

Other objects of the invention will appear from the followingdescription.

The invention consists in the features and combination andarrangement-ot parts hereinafter described and particularly pointed outin the claims. l

In the' accompanying drawings Fig. 1 is a plan View in the nature of adiagram of a knitting head with my improvement in place.

Fig. 2 is a sectional View along line 2,-2 of Fig. 1 with parts inelevation.

Fig. 3 is a View of .a group of pressers,

having their edges, which are to cooperate with presser cams, ofdiiierent formation for making the pattern.

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the several presser cams which cooperatewith the pressers oi Fig. 3 and with the tuck wheel for making thepattern. y

Figf is a rear view of the pressen cams assembled in a group in workingrelation to each other.

Fig. 6 is a front edge view of the presser cams.

Fig. 7 is a side view of the presser cams;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged view of one of the needle beard pressers.

In these .drawings 1 indicates diagrammatically the head of acircularhosiery machine, say of the Pigeon type, though it will beunderstood that the invention may be applied to' spring needle machinesor other types. The circular row of needles is indicated at 2. 3indicates the pressers, there being one of these for each of theindependently operated needles throughout the needle row. These pressersare mounted yto have rocking movement to bring their edges which pressthe needle beards into position to be engaged by the needle beards asthe latter recede in of the beard of the descending needle, the

said beard will not be closed, the oldloop will not be cast off and thisneedle will produce a tuck stitch at the next round, and it is'the orderof recurrence of these tuck stitches 1n relation to the regular knitstitches which produces the pattern in the fabric.

At 4 is shown the pressercam which is usual in machines of this type,for pressing t-lie needle beards on the counter clockwise stroke duringreciprocating knitting for making the heel and toe.

At the position 5 which indicates the radial line of the knit-ting headat which the presser cam is located for round knitting and for theclockwise stroke of the needle circle `during reciprocating knitting Ilocate a tuck presser wheel 6. This is mounted to rotate about the pin 7in the arm 8 of a bracket 9 which is screwed at 10 to the head of themachine. This tuck wheel is provided with shallow notches 11 and deepnotches 12 radially disposed and in the present illustration, which isemployed as a showing of one form of the invention which may be used,the said notches alternate with each other. stood, however, that whilethis tuck wheel will produce one -andone tuck, the invention may becarried out with other dispositions of shallow and deep notches in thetuck wheel.

This tuck wheel is adapted to press the beards,

of those needles whicli,.as the needle row revolves, align with theshallow notches in the wheel and come in contact with the edge of thewheel at the bottom of said notches. rI`he alternate needles which alignwith the deep notches will notliave their beards pressed 'andconsequently tuck stitches will be delivered from these needles.

The pressers are slabbed oit' at their sides tov provide thinned upperends 13 to enter the notches of the tuck wheel. Associated with thiswheel I provide means for eliminating, at times, the tucking action ofthe tuck wheel, for producing pattern effects. For this purpose thepressers are of dili'erent formations as shown in Fig. 3, their outeredges being cut differently. These edges are borne upon by one or t-heother or others of presser cams 15, 16, 17 arranged in a bank, 011eabove It will be underthe other but below the notched presser WheelThese presser cams are supported by the' fixed ring laof the knittinghead and are movable radially of the said head. They are slotted as at18, the upper one 15 having a countersink at 19. The ring 1?* has a stud20 extending up into the slots and a screw 21, having a head fitted tothe counter-sink their edges 22 adjacent the edge of the notched presserso that when either one or more of t-he cams is advanced radially inwardthey will, in effect, close the deep notches in the periphery of thetuck or trick wheel and will,

therefore, eliminate its tucking action, by closing the beard of thoseneedles which, except for the presence of the cam, would tuck. The camslides are Varranged in the radial plane of the tuckwheel passingthrough its axis and the axis of the head. Each cam slide has adownwardly extending two-part arm 23, in which is seated a screwthreaded stem 24 which supports \a spring 25. This spring bea-rs at oneend upon the arm 23 and at its other end upon the arm 26 of a bracketwhichis fixed by a screw 26a to the ring 1*. The tendency of the springis to force the cam slide radially inward to act upon the pressers andcause `them to press the needlebeards. The inner ends of the screw stemsby coming against the outer face of the ring 1@L limit the innerposition of the presser cams. By turning these screw threaded stems, theposition of the cams for pressing can be accurately determined. The twoparts of the arm 23 can be drawn together by a screw 27 in order to lockthe screw threaded stem 24 against turning and affecting the accuracy ofthe adjustment. y

The presser cams are retracted against the pressure of the springs 25 bylevers pivoted at 28 and having arms 29 to bear on the depending arms 23of the cam slides. The levers are controlled through any suitableconnections extending back to pattern mechanism. I show as an example,arms 30, 31, 32, one for each of the levers 29. When either of thesearms is swung leftward, the corresponding lever 29 will be operated andthe presser cam belonging to that lever will be held in retractedposition so long as the connection remains in the position which effectsthe retraction ofthe cam'. Thearm 30 is fixed to a shaft 30a having anarm 30b on one end and an arm 30c on the other end. These arms may beoperated by any suitable pattern mechanism to control the position ofthe uppermost presser cam slide 15. The arm 31 controls the operation ofthat lever 29 which controls the intermediate cam slide 16. This -arm isfixed to a sleeve 31* having an arm 31" cooperation with the presser cam4, for reciprocating Work. It `is also controlled' for making thepattern in round knitting. These presser cams cooperate with thepressers shown in Fig. 3. These pressers, as before stated, aredifferently formed to effect pressing and tucking in such manner Yasprescribed to get the pattern desired. I have shown a group of fourpressers. This group y is repeated throughout the' whole circle ofneedles.` The grouping shown is a arbitrarilyl selected oneV and isrepresentative of any select-ion or grouping that may be desired.'

In the particular grouping shown, the presser marked a has its edge 14intact throughout so that no mat-ter which of the presser cams 15, 16,17 is advanced, this presser would be tilted inwardly and would pressthe beard of the needle with which it is associated. The presser c has anotch extending from its upper end part way down its edge 14. If eitherthe upper or the intermediate presser cam 15, 16 'is advanced, thispresser will not be operated thereby because of the said notch clearingthe two uppermost presser cams.

Presser b will be operated by the uppermost and lowermost presser cams,but not by the intermediate presser cam, as it has av notch oppositethis intermediate cam 16. -This cam, in order to enter this notch, hasits forward end beveled, as shown in Figs. 4 and 7.

Presser rl willbe operated by the two lower i most presser cams but notbythe uppermost presser cam 15 beca-use its notch 1s` in the path of theupper presser cam andlits intact or uncut edge is in line with the twolowermost It now will be understood that if the uppermost presser cam isadvanced radially inward to its active position, it will eliminate anytucking action which the notched trick wheel might have had at pressersa and b, because said upper cam will ind an engaging edge 14 on the saidpressers, and they will be moved to. the other two pressers c and d, ofthis group of four, thesewill present cut out portions of their outeredges to this upper presser cam, and hence if the deep notch in the'ltrick wheel matched with these pressers, then the tucking controlexerted by the trick wheel will not be nullitied, bugt will take place.

If the intermediate presser cam is advanced,

inwardly to press the needle beards, but as it will operate pressers aand al to press the needle beards irrespective of the occurrence of deepnotches in the tuck wheel, but this cam will not operate presse-rs c andI), hence these will be under control of the trick wheel to knit ortuck, as the case may be.

If the lowermost presser cam is advanced, then all of the pressers a, b,c, d will be operated to press the needle beards and no tucking wouldresult, but ordinary knitting would be produced all around the fabric.This is because all of the pressers have intact portions in the samehorizontal plane, i. e. the plane in which the lowermost presser cam islocated. Fig. 3 illustrates this construction of the pressers from whichit will be noticed that on each presser the. lower portion of the edge14 is uncut.

This cam is advanced in making the heel and toe, or during reciprocatingknitting.

The pressers can bevarranged in any desired grouping and follow eac-hother around the circle in any desired order', according to the patternit is desired to produce in cooperation with the trick wheel having theshallow and deep notches. This trick wheel, as stated, makes one and onetuck. This may be regarded as the basis of the pattern, it being modiiedby the differently notched pressers and the different presser camsassociated with and eliminating the action ofthe trick wheel accordingto the prescribed plan. As an eX- ample, if the upper presser cam isadvanced, knitting would be donewherever pressers a and b occur in theneedle row, because the corresponding needles would have their beardspressed. Pressers c and d would not be operated by this cam, but thesepressers would be acted on by the tuck wheel to press some and tuck withothers. t

The connections for setting the lowermost cam into operating positioncan be of any suitable form. This cam will be set in operative positionto operate all the pressers when the machine changes to reciprocatingknitting for making the heel and toe, also this same cam can be set inoperative position for round knitting, and for this purpose the Aarm 32will be operated from another source of power on the machine. One sourceof power would be a suitable pattern chain through the arm 32e and theconnections operated thereby, and the other source would be from a camoperating the connections through the arm 32".

It will be understood that I do not limit myself to a group of fourdistinctive pressers, as a dierent number may be employed to ,get apattern effect. Nor do Ilimit myself to a one and one tuck wheel, and asan example of a different form of said wheel, I may employ a two and onetuck wheel. Neither do I restrict myself to a bank of three cams, asother numbers of cams may be employed. For instance, if an additionalpresser or pressers having cuts or notches distinguished from thosedescribed above are employed, an additional cam or cams will be used.Again, only two cams may be employed, one of these would be employed tooperate all the pressers around the needle circle, thus eliminating theaction of the tuck wheel for either round or reciprocating knitting, andthe other cam, when set in operative position (the first mentioned cambeing withdrawn) would operate only a portion of the series of pressers,it missing the rest of the series, which would be cut to` presentnotches to this cam, leaving them under the control of the tuck presserwheel to produce the pattern as prescribed. Further, I do not restrictmyself to a series of sliding cams, as a pivoted cam may be used, suchas is shown in Let-ters Patent of the United States, granted to me Feb.21, 1922, Patent No. 1-,407 ,684.

.It will be seen from the above that I provide a hosiery machine capableof producing a pattern during round knitting and for produeing plainfabric on the heel and toe, the means for getting these results beinglocated at the point where the presser cam for round knitting ordinarilyis mounted on the machine, said cam in the present case being adjustableto and from working position automatically to accord with the prescribedorder of knitting and the formation of the leg or foot and toe or heel.

It will be seen from the above that we have first the control exerted bythe notched Wheel whereby some needles knit and others tuck, and wehave, second, the control exerted by reason ofthe differential notchingof the pressers and the cooperation of the cam means with. thesedifferently notched pressers, and when this second control (the cammeans) is brought into action for the formation of the `pattern fabric,the first control, i. e.y the notched wheel, is eliminated as to some ofthe pressers leaving others of the p-ressers under the control of saidwheel.

It may be noted also that the standard hoslery machine has 260 needlesin the circle whereas the present machine has 261 needles.

As will be seen by the appended claims. I

do not limit myself to hosiery machines as the yinvention can be appliedfor instance to body machines.

By having `the cams controlled from two sources as referred to above, Ican employ a short pattern chain for making the pattern, said shortchain being thrown out of action when desired by the main chain of themachine.

With the two ways of controlling the cam means I can use said shortpattern chain which keeps repeating itself throughout the portion of thestocking in which the pat-tern is knit.

When the high spliced heel is reached arm 31b is moved from the maindrum of the machinecausing all theilow and medium butt needles to knitplain. f

I do not limit myself to the relative notching of the pressers shown,nor to employing the bottom cam for making plain fabrlc at the heel.Other orders of notching may be employed and for makino' plain fabric insome cases it may be desira` le to let all three cams bein advancedposition.

It will be understood that, in accordance with ordinary practice, thenotches and grooves of the tuck wheel 6 are incommensurate'with thenumber of needles in the needle circle.

Iclaim;

1 In combination in a spring beard needle knittin machine, individualpressers for the needle ards, having their cam contacting edgesdifferently formed relative to eachother for knitting and tucking, atuck pree'r wheel adapted to operate certain of the Vpressers to knitand havingdeepnot-ches to permit certain pressers to remain idle fortucking and cam.

i v means for eliminating the action of the tuck j wheel upon certain ofthe pressers by operating said cert-ain pressers and mlssing others, thelatter .being left under the control of the tuck presser wheel,substantially f as described.

. 2. In combination in a` spring beard needle knitting machine, a seriesof pressers, individual to the needles thinned at theirupper ends. .andnotched in different horizontal planes relative to each other, cam meansacting selectively on said pressers to operate some and not others, apresser wheel cooperating with the thinned upper ends vof the pressersand notched to miss pressing certain of said pressers, said cam meanscoacting with the pressers in a plane below the plane of the presserwheel, substantially as described.

pressers lnotchedl relative to each other, a plurality of sliding camsarranged one above another and 3. In combination, springbeard needles,individual thereto, differently cooperating to select certain of saidpressers vand operate them for pressing the needle beards, and a presserWheel arranged in a '.as described.

` plane above said sliding Acams and notched to miss operating certainof said pressers and means for operating the sliding cams,

means for retracting said'cams from operating position.

5. A knitting machine according to claim 3 in which the cams areprovided with downwardly extending arms, operating means engaging saidarms for retracting the pressers and springs for advancing them,substan'f.

tially as described.

6. In combination in a seamless' hosiery machine for performing eitherround or reciprocating knitting, spring beard needles,

pressers individua-l thereto, a presser cam for operating the pressersfor reciprocatingknitting, said pressers being notched differentlyrelatively to each other, a presser wheel for operating certain of theressers and notched to missy others, adjusta. le cam means forselectively operating certain of the pressers, while not operatingothers because of their notches, means for automatically adjusting e thecam means, said vpresser wheel and cam needle, a cam for operating thepreers during reciprocating knitting, said pressers being notcheddifferently relatively to each other, a. notched presser wheel forselectively operating the pressers, and a plurality of slidable camswith operating means there lfor for selectively operating the pressersaccording to the relative disposition of their intact portions andnotches, said cam means consisting of a plurality of slidable camsarranged beneath and moving diametrically of the presser wheel, saidresser wheel and sliding cams being located 1n respect to the needlecircle at the point usually occupied by the presserA cam for round andreciprocating knitting, substantially as described.

9. A knitting machine according to claim 8 in' which all of thepresse-rs have intact portions in the same horizontal plane and one i ofthesldable cams is in the plane of said insaid cams sliding in adirection parallel with the diameter of the said wheel, substantially`4.. A knitting machine according to claim 3 in which the sliding camsare springl pressed into position for operating the pressers, and

tact portions to operate all the pressers when said slidable cam isadvanced, substantially as described. v

` In testimony whereof, I my signature.

-KENNETHHowm

